西村番茶屋本店 GELATO FACTORY — Restaurant in Kyoto

Excellent service and delicious matcha gelato. I got the 3 Flavors - Premium, Matcha Milk, and Genmaicha. My favorite was Matcha Milk (like a matcha latte) but as a matcha fan, I loved being able to try them all. Premium is so strongly flavored that you can’t eat a lot, so the sampler was perfect.

I was the fastest walker of our tour group and saw this place right near the bus pickup lot. I recognized the matcha flavors from a friend’s trip photos and made the split-second decision to run in before the tour group caught up (there were 2 rail crossings to slow them down). The woman scooping saw my frantic expression and knew exactly what my situation was, said “You need to catch bus??” and rushed to get my 3 flavors prepared. Another staff member scrambled to get the IC iPad payment device because I was out of cash, as two oblivious tourists slowly pondered their order at the kiosk. When the payment went through, we cheered!

I got my gelato and committed the Japanese faux pas of eating while walking at the back of my tour group pack to the bus. A+ everything...

I walked in just out of pure curiosity seeing that they make award winning matcha gelato - I thought matcha ice cream were all similar in Kyoto. I WAS WRONG - this is literally the best tasting matcha anything I’ve had in my entire life (including expensive matcha, matcha lattes, cakes, crepes…etc)!!! And also the best gelato texture as well (and I’ve had many different brands’ gelato as well). Deep yet soft and slightly sweet notes of matcha paired with perfectly smooth, silky, and slightly chewy gelato texture - it was SO good They were all so friendly and I loved the sample they provided as it was very refreshing. I am SO happy I was able to try this gem of matcha gelato during my first Japan trip. This will be one of few stores I will keep in my Japan trip list so I can come back...

We were in Japan with my family at the end of May 2024, spent wonderful days all over Japan and met great experiences and people. Here in Kyoto we made a short stop because we needed help to ask for a taxi, the employees and the owner helped us immediately, our children got a delicious ice cream, I my matche and my wife their tea, we met a very open owner who is wonderful (thanks for everything) including her employees, that the matcha and the ice cream were excellent is probably a matter of course. Thank you again for everything and the great conversations that we have until waiting for the taxi. Best wishes from Germany (Baden-Württemberg) Domo Arigato 😊🙏😊 stami...